The unionist leadership must support the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain today after a weekend of rioting in the city that left 50 police officers injured.
The appeal for calm was echoed by the United States special envoy Mitchell Reiss who said unionist leaders should be barred from serving in government in Northern Ireland if they cannot uphold the rule of law.
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President George W Bush's envoy held a 30-minute meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin today after meeting politicians and police chiefs in Belfast. "I think all of us are pretty disappointed with the abdication of responsibility by many unionist political leaders," he said.
The violence started after a Protestant Orange Order parade was re-routed away from a nationalist area of west Belfast on Saturday.
This evening there were a number of protests taking place in the greater Belfast area. A number of roads were blocked peaceful protests for a number of hours, causing severe traffic disruption.
There were also reports that petrol bombs were thrown at a PSNI station in Belfast this evening.
Mr Hain also confirmed today that the British government is to give its verdict on the ceasefire status of loyalist paramilitaries within the next 48 hours.
"The evidence I have seen is absolutely clear-cut. If it wasn't clear-cut before, it's absolutely categorical now. As a result, I'm now going through, and indeed have been over the past week, a process in which I will be making an announcement in the next few days," he said.
Mr Hain was speaking after being briefed by PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde on the violence that has raged across Belfast and surrounding towns for two nights. It followed the refusal of the Parades Commission to allow an Orange Order march through a Catholic area on Saturday.
Speaking on BBC Radio Four's World at One, Mr Hain said that nothing justified attempts to "systematically kill" police officers and claimed that social problems were at the root of much of the violence.
"Northern Ireland is now more prosperous and has higher levels of employment than ever in our history, yet there are pockets within our society including these areas of Belfast and elsewhere that have not benefited," he said.
Mr Hain was talking after receiving a briefing from Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde and being shown footage rioting at the Whiterock parade that showed Orangemen attacking police officers.
"I think if leaders of the Orange Order actually saw the video I saw this morning of Orangemen taking off their collarettes and throwing rocks at the police, I think the leaders of the Orange Order would be as horrified as I was," he said.
Mr Hain held a 15-minute conversation about the ongoing loyalist violence with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern today.
Mr Hain has been under intense pressure to sanction the Ulster Volunteer Force for carrying out a gangland killing spree against rival loyalists. That faction and the Ulster Defence Association have both been held responsible for the weekend trouble.
Mr Hain studied CCTV footage of gunmen opening fire on police and soldiers, and petrol bombers attacking security lines in Belfast, Co Antrim and Co Down. He said he was horrified by what he had viewed.
"The evidence I have seen this morning is absolutely clear-cut. If it wasn't clear-cut before, it's absolutely categorical now.
Speaking from to RTE fromAmerica, Mr Ahern praised the work of the PSNI in dealing with the situation and called on community and political leaders to restore calm.
The Taoiseach and the US special envoy to the North, Mitchell Reiss also held a 30-minute meeting today at Dublin Castle. Mr Reiss said many unionist leaders have "abdicated responsibility" over the violence.
"No political party and no responsible leadership deserves to serve in Government unless it wholly and unconditionally supports the police and calls on its constituents to do the same," Mr Reiss said.
Mr Orde has blamed the Orange Order for what he said was one of the most dangerous riot situations in the history of policing in the United Kingdom.
He said: "We did not call anyone on to the streets of Belfast, and those that did must bear substantial responsibility for the disorder that became inevitable with the catalyst of a disputed march. . . . We are also clear that UDA and UVF factions were out there taking advantage of that situation."
Police have released video evidence of what they say is Orange Order involvement in the rioting. Members of the Order were reportedly seen in the company of known loyalist paramilitaries, according to some reports at the weekend.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, claimed the trouble was provoked by the rerouting of an Orange Order march through a Catholic area on Saturday.
Sir Reg Empey, the Ulster Unionist leader, denied unionist parties had used inflammatory language.
"I have been working throughout the week to avoid the sort of deplorable violence that has taken place. While I'm always sympathetic to police, I am shocked at some of the tactics being used."